What To Stop Doing When You Get Promoted

Most of us were promoted because we were very good at something. Then we stepped into the new role and kept doing that same thing, only harder.

What do the most successful leaders change first?

The most successful leaders I work with make three changes right after a promotion, or when they want to be promoted. This seems obvious, yet many still operate as the old role inside the new one.

In The Leadership Pipeline, Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel name the three: skills, time, and values. A promotion puts you in a bigger ocean, with a new system, new people, and new dynamics. Changing those three things is the quickest way to find your footing.

Which skills should you let go of?

The ones you’re best at that your role no longer needs. Solving any problem fast is a gift early in a career. At a senior level, it can mean your team never learns to solve problems without you.

Where should your time go?

At a new level, your vantage point changes. You can see more than your team can, so people expect different things from you: to spot what’s coming, connect the dots, and help everyone steer.

Your calendar tells the truth about what level you’re working at. If your week goes to reviewing details, fixing problems, and being the person everyone checks with, you’re doing your old job inside your new title. More of your time belongs to thinking ahead, growing your leaders, and building relationships across the organization.

Why is the values shift the hardest?

Values are what you believe counts as real work. If part of you still believes hands-on work is the real work, delegating will feel like slacking off. You’ll take the task back, or quietly redo it at night.

At a senior level, valuable work looks like a good conversation, a decision you helped someone else make, or a leader who no longer needs you in the room. It’s harder to point to. It’s also the work only you can do.

Questions to ask yourself

• Skills: What am I still doing because I’m good at it, and not because my role needs me to?
• Time: If someone looked only at my calendar, what level would they guess I’m working at?
• Values: What kind of work makes me feel useful? Is that the work my role asks of me now?
• Letting go: What would I need to believe to hand one thing off this month and leave it there?

How do you let go of what isn’t working?

The leaders who grow fastest don’t hang on to the old role. They get rid of what isn’t working and keep moving.

So here’s my question for you: what’s the one thing you’re ready to put down?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Leadership Pipeline model?

It’s a framework from Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel that describes leadership growth as a series of turns. At each turn, a leader needs new skills, a new use of her time, and a new sense of what counts as valuable work.

Why do newly promoted leaders struggle to delegate?

Often part of them still believes hands-on work is the real work. When that belief stays in place, handing work off feels like slacking off, so they take it back or redo it.

How can I tell if I’m still doing my old job?

Look at your calendar. If most of your hours go to reviewing details, fixing problems, and being the person everyone checks with, you are likely still working at your last level.

Sarah Khambatta, PCC, is an ICF Executive and Leadership Coach and Past President of the ICF Los Angeles Chapter. She has coached more than 500 leaders over 14 years.